وَٱلْأَرْضَ مَدَدْنَٰهَا وَأَلْقَيْنَا فِيهَا رَوَٰسِىَ وَأَنۢبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ مَّوْزُونٍ · وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَعَٰيِشَ وَمَن لَّسْتُمْ لَهُۥ بِرَٰزِقِينَ
Wa'l-arḍa madadnāhā wa alqaynā fīhā rawāsiya wa anbatnā fīhā min kulli shayʾin mawzūn · Wa jaʿalnā lakum fīhā maʿāyisha wa man lastum lahu bi-rāziqīn
"And the earth We spread out; We set firm mountains in it and made grow in it of every measured thing. · And in it We made means of living for you, and for those whose provision is not from you."
The م-د-د root: to stretch, to spread, to extend. The root was treated with a near word at al-Mulk and at al-Zukhruf 43/10 (jaʿala lakumu'l-arḍa mahdā). I rely on those treatments.
I draw a boundary per the method (Method): I derive from this verb no conclusion about the shape of the earth — neither to confirm a claim nor to refute one. The lexical sense of the word is "to spread out"; what the verse says to the one it addresses is that a breadth to be walked upon has been prepared. The same boundary was set at al-Zumar 39/5 for the verb yukawwiru; I rely on that treatment.
رَوَٰسِى — the plural of rāsiya. Root ر-س-و: to be fixed in a place, to cast anchor. Mursā — the place where a ship anchors.
The verb must be recorded: alqaynā — "we cast, we set down." The lexicographers record that this verb is used here in the sense of "to place".
The و-ز-ن root: to weigh. Mīzān — the balance; wazn — weight. The root was treated in detail at al-Raḥmān 55/7-9 (wa waḍaʿa'l-mīzān). I rely on that treatment.
| Reading | What mawzūn is |
|---|---|
| 1 | Its quantity determined — everything is made to grow in its measure |
| 2 | Having value, coming to the scale — precious metals included |
| 3 | Matched to one another, harmonious — ordered |
What must be recorded is the word's place within the sūra: two verses later bi-qadarin maʿlūm (with a determined measure) will come. That is, mawzūn and qadar say the same idea with two different roots, two verses apart.
The framing of the sentence must be recorded, and the lexicographers differ over what man attaches to:
| Reading | What man attaches to | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaʿalnā lakum… wa li-man | We made a living also for the creatures whose provision is not from you |
| 2 | Jaʿalnā lakum… maʿāyisha wa man | We gave you both a livelihood and beings you do not feed (those placed at your service) |
But the first reading says something, and I record this as my own reading, its ground being the expression lastum lahu bi-rāziqīn itself: the verse says that man is not the only one addressed on the earth. And it does this by naming creatures man does not feed. That is, the scope spills beyond man's field of responsibility.